Dominique Behague, 'Violence among youth in Brazilian shantytowns: popular movements, democracy and pathologisation'

Luke Dowdney, 'From traficantes to pandilleros: contextual comparisons of children and youth in organised armed violence in Latin America'

Mo Hume, 'Researching Violence in El Salvador'

Gabriel Kessler, 'Crime, work and juvenile justice in Buenos Aires'

Paola Miraglia, 'Between me and you and among us – homicides, gangs and individuals in the periphery of São Paulo'

Dwight Ordóñez, 'Lima's Street Children: Family Rejection, Drug Abuse and Collective Violence'

Irene Rizzini and Udi Butler, 'The realities of marginalization: the life paths of children and youth living on the streets of Rio de Janeiro'

José Luis Rocha, 'The political economy of the Nicaraguan legal and institutional framework for dealing with youth violence'

Caitlin Scott, 'The Attractions of Danger to Poverty: Risk, Violence and Gender in Colombia'

Cordula Strocka, 'Victims or Villains? Youth Gangs in the aftermath of War and Displacement: the case of Ayacucho, Peru'

Ailsa Winton, 'Using ‘participatory’ methods in youth research: reflections from Guatemala'

Dominique Behague

'Violence among youth in Brazilian shantytowns: popular movements, democracy and pathologisation'

In the context of the transition from dictatorship to democracy in 1984 -- a dictatorship which has left numerous vestiges of its impact in present-day life -- considerable attention has been given to the troubled and inequitable nature of Brazilian society, and to the many difficulties that youth living in shantytowns mired by poverty and violence must endure. This era has also witnessed the rise of popular shantytown neighbourhood organizations that are actively advocating for better health, education and living conditions, and that have engendered a clearly unified grass-roots and working class identity. As part of this larger social movement, the Brazilian school system has undergone "ideological reform," through which old values related to "critical consciousness" and politicized awareness have re-emerged and been adopted by teachers and "pedagogical advisors." As shown by ethnographic research conducted in Southern Brazil, the implementation of these ideals is quite problematic, however. As described by school staff, as well as psychiatrists working in schools, discerning the difference between "healthy politicized youthful resistance" and pathological "aggression" and "violence" is not always apparent. School staff believe it is of utmost importance to be careful in making this distinction appropriately and argue that it is vital for the continued growth and effectiveness of Brazilian popular movements. In particular, they highlight that, when school staff opt for the latter interpretation, violence can become overly-medicalised and critical, politicised, awareness of the underlying causes of violence hampered. Case studies of young boys' experiences with both political activity and "violence" show that the relationship between medicalisation and politicization is less than straight-forward. The paper will end by examining the implications of these results for researching violence, highlighting the need to relativise how violence is defined, and the implications of these current definitions for research and policy. 

Luke Dowdney

'From traficantes to pandilleros: contextual comparisons of children and youth in organised armed violence in Latin America'

This paper presents selected findings from the recently concluded study, Neither War nor Peace: International Comparisons of Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence , which presents contextual comparisons of organised armed groups, and the involvement of children and youth within them, from ten countries across four continents. The study compares the history, structure and functioning of the groups themselves, as well as the motivations, desires and day-to-day reality of their child and youth members, and discusses common threads in public policy that has been utilised to deal with the problem. In contrast to the original study, however, this paper focuses primarily on those conclusions that are considered as most relevant to the involvement of children and youth in organised armed groups within Latin America. In so doing, rather than comparing the structure and organisation of these groups, the paper briefly discusses the participation of child and youth members, presenting relevant findings from the following thematic areas: personal histories; process of involvement; reasons for joining the groups investigated; working functions; gender considerations; and future perspectives. The paper then presents a brief summary of common themes within public policy utilised to deal with the problem of armed youth groups in the region. Limitations in the effectiveness of current policy are then discussed. Finally, given the themes covered by the paper, some key recommendations from the study that are considered to be most relevant to the Latin American context are presented. 

Mo Hume

'Researching Violence in El Salvador'

The phenomenon of youth gangs has become one of the most visible expressions of violence in El Salvador in recent years. A 2004 survey demonstrated that over 20 per cent of citizens see gangs as the major problem facing their country. According to Cruz (1999: 269) gangs have replaced the ‘communist threat’ as the great danger to society. This paper will explore the process of researching violence in this context. It will analyse the challenges presented by researching such a ‘slippery’ concept, arguing that citizens’ perceptions of violence often reflect wider hegemonic social discourses, particularly concerning youth. It will address issues of identity, power and emotion in the research process.

Gabriel Kessler

'Crime, work and juvenile justice in Buenos Aires'

This presentation is based on research carried out in greater Buenos Aires on young men from popular sectors who have committed crimes against property. It shows the emergence of a sector of the population that, neither worker nor “professional criminal,” survives on the basis of a combination of legal and illegal activities. In the first place, the impact of growing instability and precariousness of the job market that has characterized the transition from a worker-oriented to a “supplier-oriented” workplace is analyzed. Secondly, the socialization process of these young men is examined, as well as the ways it differs from that of gangs in other countries. Next, the different dimensions of the criminal activity in question is delved into: the young men’s’ relationship with the police, with firearms and with their victims. This profile doesn't fit the imagen that juvenil justice has of "young delinquentes". In addition, in the 90's there was a decrease in the average age of people arrested and convicted. For this reason, the closing section will focuse on the situation of juveniles in both the courts and the penal systems, taking a closer look at the changes produced in recent years. 

Paola Miraglia

'Between me and you and among us – homicides, gangs and individuals in the periphery of São Paulo'

The increase of juvenile criminality is not an isolated and specific Brazilian phenomena. However, in Brazil, juvenile criminality it’s manifesting itself mostly and more gravely as homicides of young, poor, male individuals, who live in the suburbs of the big cities. Today, Brazil holds the highest homicide rate among boys and men between 15-24 years old. Based on an ethnographic field work research that is being conduct in Jardim Ângela, a big periphery district of São Paulo, this paper intends to confront the motivations of these homicides with the traditional sociological model of “gang”. By doing that, it expects to show how this kind of crime is a new and even more perverse way of relating to society and the State. Generally speaking, regarding these homicides, there is no place for group honor, solidarity, sense of membership and other key elements to understand what is called gang’s ethos. These homicides combine, besides its structural causes, drug-traffic relations, weakness of social tissue with a tendency to privatize conflict resolutions. They reflect a lack of social organization and the random aspect of the committed crimes. Taking this hypotheses to the edge, we could relate the increasing homicide rates to this new pattern and we would be lead to the conclusion that gangs could be a “healthier” form of juvenile criminality.

Dwight Ordóñez

'Lima's Street Children: Family Rejection, Drug Abuse and Collective Violence'

The paper explores the relationship between a common sequence of past and current victimization episodes in street children’s life (at home and in the street and institutional milieux) and the sequels that this leaves on individuals’ self-esteem and self-concept (feelings of rejection and emptiness and further depression). The paper also explores the compensatory effect held on the latter by certain forms of collective drug use and delinquent-oriented behaviour which is acted-out as part of the gang-culture and learned by individuals as a form of adaptation for run-aways to the urban milieu. Over a 10-year span of time, the paper shows how street-culture rules are transmitted from one “generation” of street children to the next. 

Irene Rizzini and Udi Butler
'The realities of marginalization: the life paths of children and youth living on the streets of Rio de Janeiro'

The visual presence of young people hustling and living on the streets of Rio de Janeiro conceals complicated life histories. This paper based on extensive interviews with over 60 children shows how going to and being on the street is a process marked by many ruptures and losses, constant instability, lack of care from family and local social services, indifference and constant danger. The authors conclude by arguing the importance of providing practical support to the communities of origin and the families of these youngsters as well as the need for additional action by state and other social actors to reduce the incidence of marginalization.  

José Luis Rocha

The policies and institutions related to youth violence are mapped out, setting out the problems, deficiencies, contradictory priorities, and the dysfunctional interaction between different institutions and branches of government, as well as the political interference that characterizes and shapes these policies and institutions. Policies are shown to be sometimes partially counter-posed, producing interferences that generate controversies between the repressive and the rehabilitating approaches, each one struggling to attract or co-opt more adherents in a game marked by political interests. Providing a picture of the legal framework applied to youth violence and of the institutions that uphold this problem in Nicaragua, special attention is paid to the debates that surround them and to the factors that shape them, particularly the elite’s structures of power and hegemony, the weakness of the state capacity, and the policies’ external sources of legitimacy.

Caitlin Scott

'The Attractions of Danger to Poverty: Risk, Violence and Gender in Colombia'

The relationship between youth and violence in Colombia has, in recent decades, reached spectacular levels, in the context of a combination of a long running war, criminal violence and social conflict. For some observers, youth are active agents who should be understood as deliberate actors in a violent conflict. For others, they are victims of a repressive and violent society. This paper argues that two key elements of the situation must be understood in order to begin to make sense of questions of the agency of children and youth in this context: the space in which violent acts are particularly associated with masculinity, and the arena of extreme poverty and structural violence which has propelled young men to become involved in such means of action. 

Cordula Strocka

'Victims or Villains? Youth Gangs in the aftermath of War and Displacement: the case of Ayacucho, Peru'


The paper presents part of the results of a participatory research project with youth gangs, carried out in Ayacucho, Peru, from September 2003 to December 2004. After two decades of political violence in Peru (1980-2000) there has been a steady increase in youth gang activity in Ayacucho, once the epicentre of the armed conflict. Although I will argue that there is no direct link between adolescent antisocial behaviour and prior exposure to political violence, youth gang activity is strongly related to the adverse socioeconomic consequences of internal displacement. War-affected youth perceive themselves as suffering from socioeconomic marginalisation rather than psychological trauma. The research understands antisocial behaviour of youth gang members as highly context dependent and gang membership as only one of multiple social identities of young people. The gangs’ active participation in the research project led to a reduction of inter-gang rivalry and a process of identity transformation from youth gang to juvenile organisation. The paper concludes by proposing that the emergence of youth gangs in post-conflict Peru is a collective response of young people to socioeconomic marginalisation. Ayacucho’s youth gangs do not represent a lost generation of traumatized and brutalized war victims. Psychosocial programming with youth gangs in post-conflict areas should focus on the positive social functions of the gangs, aiming to transform rather than disintegrate them.

Ailsa Winton

'Using ‘participatory’ methods in youth research: reflections from Guatemala'

Methodological innovation has long been associated with child- and youth-focused research, yet is it only recently that ‘alternative’ methods have permeated mainstream development research, largely through the increasing popularity of Participatory Appraisal (PA) techniques. Forming part of the wider so-called ‘participation revolution’ in development, PA (in both its methods and approach) aims to prioritise local knowledge and promote genuine participation in the research process. Yet questions remain as to how far PA can meet these highly ambitious aims, and while much has been made of what PA techniques can do, there is also a need to consider what they cannot. In the context of these broader concerns, this paper reflects on the relative merits of using participatory appraisal methods in research with young people in situations of violence, and explores the practical and epistemological demands of genuine ‘participation’ in the research process in such contexts. It also discusses how PA relates to alternative (or complementary) methodologies in research with young people, and research on violence.